Rebuild Babri Mosque at original place, act on Sachar report: NCP

Published: Wednesday, January 9, 2008, 21:15 [IST]

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New Delhi, Jan 9 (UNI) Virtually in election mode, the Nationalist Congress Party(NCP) chief Sharad Pawar gave a call to political parties not to divide secular votes helping the 'communal forces' and resolved to work for implementation of Sachar Committee report at the National Covention of the party's Minorities Department here today.

With Mr Pawar in the chair, the Covention, mainly attended by Muslim leaders from all over the country, adopted a resolution demanding rebuilding of demolished Babri Mosque at its original place and punishment to the guilty of the destruction of the religious structure. It also deplored that the Liberahan Commission inquiring into the Ayodhya episode had not finalised its report despite the time limit being extended repeatedly.

The Convention, comprising a large gathering of Muslim minority people, also sought the implementation of Srikrishna Commission report recommending action against the guilty involved in the killings of members of minorities in Mumbai in 1992. Also, by another resolution, it demanded that the recommendatios of Justice Ranganath Mishra panel be tabled to salvage the plight of lower strata of the minority community.

In his presidential speech, Mr Pawar, however, gave indications that the coming Budget of the UPA government would reflect the implementation of Sachar Committee recommentations. And, the Prime Minister is also convinced that the development process should not isolate the larger Muslim minority, Mr Pawar said. He added that the country could realise its full potential only if the development was of an inclusive nature.

Without naming BJP and Shiv Sena, the NCP leader said: ''those who think that helping a minority is a political act of appeasement are highly mistaken since the country cannot retain peace, a requisite for progress and development, if a bigger section of its people espousing a strong feeling of deprivation and discrimination... such feeling could lead to violence as we see in our adjoining countries like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Myanmar''.

"No political party can wish away a minority whose population is slighlty less than that of Indonesia... you have to give them their rights and dignity and right to live as enshrined in the Indian Constitution..... and denial of these rights would cost the country dearly", said Mr Pawar, sounding the refrain of other leaders of his party like Secretary General Tariq Anwar and General Secretary D P Tripathi who spoke before him.

The party leaders were at pains explaining the audience that the NCP would oppose BJP and Shiv Sena tooth and nail and expose the 'Soft Hindutva' being practised by the ruling Congress.

Delhi sole NCP MLA Rambir Singh Bidhuri made caustic remark that the Congress would continue to bite the dust as it did in Gujarat's recent assembly polls, if it persued its policy of 'soft Hindutva' and did not fight the divisive and communal forces.

The thrust of the Convention was to implement the Sachar Committee report in toto which, they said, had exposed the BJP which was never tired of accusing any support to minorities as 'an act of appeasement'. The report had made it clear that the Muslims had been left high and dry in every field of life particularly education, government jobs and military and para-military forces.

Mr Pawar promised to implement the 15-point programme drawn under Sachar Committee report for uplift of the minority starting from Maharashtra.

The Convetion also released the Hindi version of the report and decided to publicise it particularly among the non-muslims of the country.